How to bake the perfect meringue?

If you’re someone who’s really passionate about baking, you might already know how meringue can truly transform your desserts.
Yes! The beautiful peaks of this fluffy egg white recipe, is the crowning glory to some of our favorite cakes and pies.

Whether it is banana cream, chocolate cream, lemon tart or coconut cream – a generous topping of meringue will definitely make your pies tad more delectable.

The idea of making a basic meringue is pretty simple. All you need to do is whip up egg whites and sugar into a fine mixture, and then finally get it lightly baked. The perfect topping will have a chewy center and crispy sides.

In case you’re still confused about the method and the proportions, here’s a quick recipe of this simple egg white and sugar topping. F
ollow the instructions carefully to whip up this lip smacking topping, right away.

Step 1
Start off by pre-heating your oven to 100C/. Now, take your line 2 baking sheets and/or parchment paper and spread them on your baking tray.
While using baking sheets, try to avoid greaseproof foils as the meringue is likely to stick on them.

Step 2
As your oven gets heated, take a clean mixing bowl (avoid plastic bowls) and add four big egg whites in it.
Beat the eggs at medium speed with your electric hand whisk. Keep whipping until the mixture looks like a fluffy cloud and stands as a stiff peak when you bring out the blades.

Step 3
Once you get your desired consistency, increase the speed and start adding around 100 gms of caster sugar to the mixture.
Add the sugar in small spoons, one at a time. Keep whisking for around 4-5 seconds between the new additions of the sugar.
Once you start adding the sugar, slow down a bit and make sure the sugar is added extremely gently.
This will stop your meringue from weeping later on. Also, while you’re whipping up the mixture, don’t end up over beating them.
This will make it runny, contrary to the thick and glossy consistency it should have.

Step 4
Now that you’re done with the whisking, try sifting around one third of the icing sugar to the mixture.
After this, use a metal spoon or a spatula to fold it gently.
Keep following this pattern as you add the remaining icing sugar in tea spoons, one at a time.
Here too, make sure you don’t over mix. Your final mixture should be light, smooth and fluffy.

Step 5
In the final step, you’ll have to scoop the mixture in big dessert spoons and ease them on the baking sheet.
You can either make them in oval shapes or rough rounds. Finally put the tray in the oven and bake them for half an hour to forty minutes.
Stop the oven when the meringues take a pale coffee hue. Get the tray out and get it cooled on a cooling rack.
You can store these beauties for two weeks (in airtight container) to one month (refrigerator).
You can either serve them as a sandwich with a dollop of fresh cream or use them as a topping for your favorite food.